Bit O' Honey
by nekilarose
Summary: TVD AU. Kai is a bartender and Bonnie ducks in to hide away for a bit.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you open?"

The voice startles Kai and almost makes him drop the rack full of glasses he's currently carrying. He's got a cutting remark ready to fly as he turns to whatever clueless idiot is stupid enough to enter a damn bar at 2 in the afternoon. "Are you fuc-"

He trails off as he takes in the person who was foolish enough to interfere with his schedule. She's petite, he would bet she barely clears his chin. Hair pulled back so he can clearly see her face, sad green eyes that instantly tug at his heart, and a lush mouth that he instinctively knows will taste sweet. She's dressed rather fancy for a Saturday afternoon, a one shouldered knee length dress with strappy heels that give her a few extra inches of height.

He realizes he's been staring when her face scrunches up and she makes to go back outside, "I'm sorry, you're obviously not open. Didn't mean to bother you." She has one hand on the door, pushing it open when he breaks his paralysis.

"NO! I mean, we're not open yet, but you can stay?" Instead of coming out smooth as he intended, it came out like a question.

"Are you sure, I don't want a drink," he swears he hears her mutter something like 'not yet anyways' under her breath. "I just need a place to sit and well…..hide for a bit." She tries to joke, but he can tell she's not really in the mood for humor.

Kai doesn't know who or what she's hiding from, but he's all too willing to play hero. "Yeah, sure. I'm just setting up, so pick a seat anywhere." He gestures to the room at large. She doesn't offer her name, so he holds back on giving her his.

She chooses a seat at the very end of the bar, an out of the way spot next to the cash register. He notes that it's in a blind spot. From the front door you won't be able to peer in and see anyone sitting there. Even though she protests that she doesn't need anything, he hands her a glass of water. He feels his pulse kick up a notch as she shoots him a grateful (albeit sad) smile. "Thank you."

Though his curiosity is piqued, he continues with his normal opening duties. He notices that she takes her phone and sets it on the counter face down. Kai normally likes the quiet when he's setting up, but with just the two of them in there, he can only focus on her breathing.

He goes to the back and plugs in his IPOD, just to have something else to listen to. 90's rock, loud and angry, blasts over the speakers. He comes out and catches her eye, silently asking if the music is okay, at her little nod, he goes about his business, stopping every now and then to refill her water.

It's not until one of their regulars come in that she asks for an amaretto sour. He guesses the alcohol portion of the night has begun. He hands her the drink, but also makes sure to keep her water glass filled.

"Malachai, my boy!" James, one of the bars longtime patron calls out. He watches as his mystery girl blinks at him, brow furrowed, and he's not sure why, but he feels the need to explain his name. "Yeah, that's me, but I usually go by a nickname." He lifts an arm to sheepishly rub his neck. "Who names their kid Malachai? It's like they expect me to be evil." Her eyes widen, and he rushes to clarify, "Not that I am! I'm just saying it's an unusual name." She's still giving him a wary look, so he turns to go see what James needs.

"Bonnie." It's the first thing he's heard her say in about 2 hours. He looks back to see her steady gaze on his face.

"Huh?" He wants to kick his own ass.

One corner of her mouth kicks up, "Bonnie. It's my name."

He holds a hand out, not realizing he still had a dish towel in his hand until he followed her gaze to his hand. He tossed it over his shoulder, uncaring of where it landed, and offered his hand again.

"Nice to meet you, Bonnie." She placed her hand in his and he marveled at the softness of her skin against his. "Likewise, Malachai." He thought he saw a gleam of amusement in her eyes.

"Malachai!"

He lets go of her hand and stalks down to the older man, grabbing a glass and filling it with his normal dark stout. Once the glass was full, he plunked it down on the counter, "Anything else?" James blinks up at Kai, "Was just saving you, son. She can't see you."

Kai bristled, "What do you mean, she can't see me? I'm the one that just served her a damn drink."

James took a drink, "Not what I mean, and you know it Mally-boy. Look close, someone else just stomped all over that poor girls heart. She ain't seeing you right now, she's being polite because she's a nice girl, but she ain't seeing you." He took another drink, "Not like you're seeing her."

Kai wants to disagree with the elder man's assessment, but one look at Bonnie and he knows it's the truth. She's alternating between scowling at her phone and angrily scrolling through the pictures, or ignoring it all together, preferring to place it face down on the bar. "Oh hell."

James pats him on the back, "Cheer up Mally-boy, handsome kid like you? Bound to be lots of other girls to choose from." He chokes out a laugh, takes his drink, and meanders over to the dartboard where the rest of his normal drinking buddies are gathered.

* * *

The next few hours pass in much the same matter, he's handling the normal early afternoon crowd while keeping an eye on Bonnie in the corner. The bar offered the normal pub food, so he'd fixed her some fries and slid them her way. As small as she was, and depending on if she'd eaten anything for breakfast, the drinks could easily go to her head.

Kai was pouring shots when he saw Luke and Lexi arrive. "Hey bro. Nice crowd today." Luke quickly got to work cleaning out the old glasses and restocking the empty bottles. Lexi was chattering about something or the other when he heard start swearing before jumping over the bar. "Oh my God, Bennett! We've been looking all over for you, have you been here the whole time?"

Kai looks up in confusion, the only person that's been here that long is-

"Hey Lexi." Bonnie is making her way back from the ladies room carefully. "Yeah, Malachai was nice enough to let me hang out here for a bit."

Although Kai refuses to look up from where he was mixing drinks, he can feel his neck burn as Luke and Lexi both turned their gazes in his direction.

"Well, as nice as _Malachai_ " Lexi stressed his full name before she turned to Bonnie "has been. We've been worried, Bon. Are you okay?" Lexi crept closer to Bonnie.

Bonnie blinked, then sniffed. "No, I'm not okay, but I think I'm done here. Can you take me home?" She looks so small and defeated that Kai kinda wants to fight the world for her right now. He steps away from the drinks he's making, but Luke grabs his arm, "We got it here, don't we _Malachai_? See you in a bit Lex."

Kai wants to say something witty just so she can turn and he can have one last look at her face, but nothing is coming to mind. Luke has a death grip on his arm so the only thing he can do is watch her and Lexi make their way to the door.

"Well, we're gonna talk about this, but not right now." Luke lets go and moves down the bar.

* * *

When Lexi comes back, they're in the middle of a rush. She quickly ducks underneath the bar and gets to work, she shoots him a look every now and then, but she doesn't seem pissed so he counts that as a good sign.

"Lexi!" Stefan Salvatore breaks through the crowd at the bar. "I hear you found Bonnie. Thanks for letting us know, Elena was worried." Kai's met him a few times, he seems okay. Can't stand his pompous older brother, though.

"I told you all she'd be fine." Speak of the devil. "Bon Bon is tough, she's not gonna let something like baby Gilbert being an asshole keep her down for long." He saddles up to the bar next to his brother, nods at Kai. "Bourbon, neat." He turns back to speak to Stefan. "Still one of the best weddings I've been to, even though the wedding part didn't happen." He took his drink and disappeared back in the crowd.

Kai, meanwhile was freaking out internally, ' _She was supposed to be getting married? Who was the dumb-ass that fucked that up?_ ' For once, he agreed with the older Salvatore. He wanted to know more, but he'd long ago established that he didn't want to hear about what went on with his younger siblings' friends group.

Yeah, that was coming back to bite him in the ass right now. How could he have been so close to her, but never have even met her? He doesn't think he's even heard her name mentioned.

"Elena can get bent right now." Lexi spat. She rolled her eyes at Stefan's look of surprise, "I don't care, Stefan. Right now anyone with the last name of Gilbert is on my shit list. She knew what her brother was doing, and said nothing to her supposed best friend."

Kai had to go and replace a keg so he missed their whole conversation. When he got back, he was waylaid by his younger sister and Luke's twin.

"I heard you played the role of hero today." She starts, casually stacking glasses.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I just let some chick sit in here for a few hours while I got ready to open." Kai tried to brush it off, but Liv has always been shrewd. She gives him a long once over before she takes the glasses back to wash them.

* * *

The night flies by, and before he knows it, he's tossing his dish towel across the bar and booking it home. He avoids saying bye to his siblings because he knows they'll want to talk about earlier. Most times he loves his siblings, and they know when to leave well enough alone, but for some reason, they're not backing down tonight.

He's been home for only 20 min when his phone lights up with a text:

- _Wanna go a few rounds?_

He nearly trips over himself getting out the door on his way to the gym. When he arrives, he's more than ready to hit something for a while. He sees Mason is already there warming up with his nephew Tyler, and his friend Matt. Elijah emerges from the locker room, followed by his brother Nik, who is holding a phone inches away from his ear.

"Yes, love, I know. So why are you screeching in _my_ ear?" That was apparently the wrong thing to say because the yelling got even louder before the person hung up. Nik shakes his head and pockets his phone, "I love her, but I swear to the Gods." He muttered.

Kai snickered, he's met Nik's girlfriend a few times, pretty, but high maintenance. He didn't think she'd be the type to hang out in a dim bar just to keep someone company. Kai stopped in his tracks, why was he thinking about someone that he'll probably never see again?

There was the usual shit talking between men, and then they got down to business. Kai was holding the bag for Mason, coaching him through his movements, and for a while, there was nothing but the sound of grunts and fists hitting bags.

They chatted amongst themselves as Nik checked his phone when they took a break. He groaned out loud, "I swear, I want to break that bloody arseholes face myself. Tyler, I don't care that Gilbert is your friend, his fucking up with Bonnie is fucking with my relationship."

"Shit, I don't blame you, matter of fact, I'll hold him for you." Tyler took a drink.

Elijah stretched, "Bonnie is more than capable of causing enough damage on her own, or did you forget that 4th of July where she broke Kol's nose?

Mason laughed, "That's my girl, I taught her that." He puffed his chest out like a proud dad.

Kai spluttered, "How the hell does everyone know this girl, but I've never heard of her till this afternoon?"

The gym grew silent as every eye turned to him. "This afternoon?" Matt questioned.

"Yeah, this afternoon, in the bar. She came in looking to hide for a bit, so I let her sit while I got ready to open." Kai didn't know why, but he was suddenly feeling very defensive. "Nothing else happened." Nik was once again on the phone with his girlfriend, "No Caroline, we know where she was, she was with Kai. Yes, all afternoon. Apparently just hanging out."

"WHO THE HELL HANGS OUT IN A BAR ALL AFTERNOON?" All the men winced as they heard her shriek. Both Matt and Tyler laughed to themselves, they knew from previous dating experience that Caroline was just getting worked up.

"No, I'm not going to put him on the phone! Because you're screeching like a harpy, sweetheart. We don't want to deafen the poor bloke." Nik waited a bit before turning to Kai and holding the phone out. Kai raised his hands and tried to scoot away, but Nik just tossed the phone to him. "She won't stop until she speaks with you."

Kai looked around for assistance, but suddenly it seemed as if everyone found somewhere else to be.

Cowards.

He decided to get it over with, "Hello?" Sure, he'd met her a few times, but they'd never had a conversation between them.

Instantly he heard a squeal, _"Oh my god, thank you so much for taking care of my best friend!_ "

"Uh, you're welcome?" He didn't think he did anything special, but if she wanted to act like he was a hero, maybe she'd put in a good word or two with Bonnie. But apparently that was the correct thing to say, because she went off on a tangent about how she knew he was trustworthy, and DUH! he was Luke and Liv's brother, so of course she could trust him. And oh! If he knew anybody that was available, let her know, because she was going to fix Bonnie up with the first hot guy- There was a scuffle, then:

" _Malachai?_ " He'd only heard her speak a few times, but he instantly knew it was her voice.

"Hey, Bonnie." He tried not to let his voice show how much he liked talking to her.

" _Hi. Look, I'm sorry about Caroline, she gets carried away. Do not tell her if you know anyone that's available. She is not my P-I-M-P no matter what she thinks._ " Bonnie gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Duly noted." He agreed. There was a moment of silence, and he thought Bonnie may have gone to sleep on him when she came back on the line, " _Goodnight Malachai. Thanks again."_

"No problem, if you ever need to hide out again, you know where to find me." She laughed softly then hung up with Caroline still talking in the background.

He looked up to find himself the center of attention. "What?"

* * *

A week later Kai was once again all alone preparing to open. The bar was quiet, just as he preferred, so he was able hear the door open this time.

"Hey."

It was almost embarrassing at how fast he whipped around to see his visitor. "Bonnie, hey." He set down the box of Corona he was lugging around. "Come back to hide away again?" He really didn't mean for his voice to sound that hopeful.

She smiled and for the first time he noticed her jawline was a little crooked, but it added to her overall charm. She was dressed down today, no strappy heels or figure hugging dress, but no less beautiful in a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on with an oversized hoodie and sneakers. "No, I came to say thanks again and to pay for my drinks."

He gave her a quick shake of his head, "Nah, you're good." But Bonnie isn't having it.

"I've listened to Lexi, Liv, and Luke bitch enough to understand the importance of not only paying your tab, but also tipping." She said stubbornly. "So here, take it." She's holding an envelope out to him.

There is no way he's taking her money, so he skirts around her and ducks behind the bar. "Afternoon drink?" He offers, hoping to keep her there for a while, but his hopes are dashed when she shakes her head. "No thanks. I don't normally drink before I fly, it makes for a bad trip."

He feels his heart skip, "Going on vacation?" He inquires lightly.

"No, a new job actually." She smiles sadly, and he wants to go find this Gilbert guy and beat the shit out of him. In his opinion, even though she still looks beautiful, she should never look sad. "I need to get out and get my head right, and it just so happened that the school had an opening for a linguistics internship in Italy." She shrugged, "I figured it was a sign and applied for it."

Italy. As in overseas. "For how long?" He barely gets the question out through a fake smile and gritted teeth.

"At least one, but no longer than three years, with the option to stay on permanently afterwards if I want to." The gleam is back in her eyes and although he is cursing his rotten luck, he's happy to see it. "That's great Bonnie. I'm happy for you."

Her eyes flit back to the wall behind him, "You know what? I don't want a drink, but can we do a shot?" She raises an eyebrow questioningly. He hurriedly agrees, anything to keep her talking to him longer. She asks for a Bit O' Honey shot. He has the Irish Cream liquor readily available, but has to go to the back for the Butterscotch Schnapps.

When he comes out triumphantly brandishing the bottle of Schnapps, she's no longer standing at the bar. He can see that she left the envelope on the bar, with a note attached. He pockets the envelope, fully planning on giving the money back to her when sees her next. The note looks like a printout from one of those 'What does my name mean?' sites.

 _Malachai:_ _From the Hebrew name_ _מַלְאָכִי_ _(Mal'akhi)_ _meaning "my messenger" or "my angel"._

Underneath the printout, she had written a quick note: Your name isn't evil. Thank you for being my angel when I needed one.

Kai was grateful he was alone because the smile that lit his face would be a dead giveaway that his feelings for Bonnie were not purely platonic. Instead of simply pocketing the note, he went into the employees lounge and opened his locker searching for his wallet. He folded the note and slid it inside, just behind the picture of his mother.

"Hellooo?" He heard Liv's voice bounce around the empty bar. Shutting his locker he walked out to spend another evening tending bar in Mystic Falls.

* * *

"Ugh, lucky bitch." He heard Lexi sigh as she and Liv walked in the employee lounge.

Kai was splayed out on the couch, arm over his eyes trying to catch an extra half hour of sleep. Mason had had enough of his sulking around and had set him up with a paramedic from his firehouse. Kai ended up inviting the girl, Vanessa to stay over, even though he knew he'd be paying for it that night. He had gotten a total amount of 5 hours of sleep before he had to come in for his shift that night.

"She looks so tan." Lexi continued wistfully.

"She's black, that's not a tan that's melanin." Liv's voice was bone dry.

"You know what I mean. I wish I were on a sailboat in Italy." The Italy comment caught his attention and he looked up over at the two. They were gathered around Liv's phone, looking at her Facebook pictures.

Kai blinked, he felt like the dumb-ass of the century. Of course she'd be friends with his siblings on Facebook! For the entire year she'd been gone, he'd had to rely on slyly catching snatches of conversation to get information on how she was doing.

What he'd learned, was that he **did** know her, even though he failed to realize it. People had talked about Bonnie, but it seemed everyone had a nickname for her. His siblings used her initials B.B, Lexi tended to call her Bennett, while both Mason and Tyler simply called her B.

He had finally also gotten the whole story about what happened that day.

* * *

It hadn't been Bonnie's wedding like he thought, but a girl he had seen around, Anna. Bonnie had been attending the wedding with her boyfriend at the time Jeremy Gilbert. It seemed Jeremy and Anna were a thing before he got with Bonnie, but he was still in love with Anna. When the priest got to the typical "speak now or forever hold your peace" part, Jeremy had stood up to object. Saying that he still loved the girl and storming up the aisle, causing such a fuss that it enabled Bonnie to slip out and seek refuge in his bar.

Karma was swift and sweet though. Bonnie had already left so she had no idea that instead of returning his bold declaration of love, Anna had screamed at him to leave her alone. Embarrassed and furious, Jeremy had spilled to the groom about how they'd been screwing behind his back for months, and that she was pregnant but wasn't sure who the father was.

Needless to say, the wedding did not proceed and Anna moved back to her hometown to live with her mother. The child ended up being Ben's and he moved to where Anna was to try and work it out. Kai spotted Jeremy Gilbert around here and there, and every time he had to stop himself from outright laughing in his face.

* * *

He stretched and then felt around for his phone. He ignored the texts and phone calls from Vanessa in order to pull up his own sparsely used Facebook. He made sure to keep his phone angled away so the others wouldn't be able to see what he was doing. He went through Liv's page and found Bonnie easily. Admittedly he felt like a stalker going through her page, and ogling her pictures. Thankfully she had none with Gilbert still up. It was mostly her friends and family.

"What are you doing on Facebook?" Luke's voice came out of nowhere. Kai dropped his phone and scrambled to pick it up before Luke could see what (or who) it was he was looking at.

"Um adding the chick Mason set me up with. She's got a lot of pictures of her practicing yoga." Kai made sure to add a little smarm to his voice. Sure enough, Luke rolled his eyes and walked by to his locker, muttering about people disrespecting an age old practice.

Kai sighed in relief when Luke was out of earshot, looking down to make sure he closed out of Facebook before starting work. His eyes widened in horror as he realized that in his scramble to pick up the phone, he had accidentally 'liked' a picture. Kai had a momentary freak out, he couldn't undo it because he was sure she'd already gotten the notification that he liked it.

Maybe she wouldn't notice, he looked at the date of the picture. It was an old one of her with Lexi with his younger siblings on some sort of camping trip. He could always say that he had liked it for Luke and Liv if anyone asked.

Momentary freak out over, he tossed his phone in his locker and followed Luke out. Time to get people drunk.

* * *

"And this will be where we come after dinner, and the whole bar will be open to just us." Kai was behind the bar mindlessly conducting inventory while Caroline Forbes droned on about the sequence of events for her 25th birthday party. Normally Kai didn't do special events, but Nik had more than made it worth his while, so he figured he could take it easy one night.

Besides, as much as this crowd drank, he'd probably make as much as he did on a normal night anyway.

"Oh! We'll put the cupcake tower over here." She continued, dragging the party planner behind her.

 _'Yum, cupcakes.'_ Kai thought absently. He was off in his own world again when the door opened and he figured it was someone else coming to plan the bar takeover.

"BONNIE BENNETT! IT IS ABOUT TIME!" Kai jerked his head up so fast he slammed it against the lip of the bar knocking him on his ass. He sat there for a minute just to make sure nothing was bleeding before he tried to get up again.

Klaus leaned over the bar, "You alright, mate? That sounded like it hurt." He could hear squealing in the background as the two friends got reacquainted.

"Nah, I'm good. Just forgot where I was for a sec." He held his hand out, "See, no blood."

Nik shot him a dimpled grin, "Alright then. Can't have you knocking yourself out before the main event. I'll need all the sane people I can find, you will not leave me alone with these people, Malachai."

"What people?" Bonnie had crept up while they were talking. Her head was tilted quizzically.

"You know who I mean, love, don't pretend." Nik leaned down and picked Bonnie up in a hug before setting her down on her feet. "I see Italy agrees with you, you are glowing."

Bonnie swatted at Nik as she rolled her eyes, clearly embarrassed, but Kai agreed with his friend. Her skin was a deeper shade of brown, making the green of her eyes stand out even more. Her hair was longer and worn in loose curls that he wanted to run his fingers through to see if it was really as soft as it looked.

"Hey, I know you." She teased as she stepped up to the bar. "Welcome home, Bonnie." Wow. He really did not mean to pitch his voice that low. He sees Nik do a double take out the corner of his eye, and wills him to keep his mouth shut.

Or he will tell Caroline that Nik has started to lose his accent years ago, but plays it up with her because it gets her hot.

Her face lights up in a grin, and he honest to God sighs. What is it with this girl? "Thanks, it's good to be back. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I saw my Grams." She takes a look around, "Place still looks good, you're gonna be here tomorrow right? It wouldn't feel right to use your place, but not have you here." Kai falls just a little harder for her. He places his forearms on the counter.

No, not because he's been told they're one of his best features, shut up.

He leans in and sighs wearily, "Well, I had planned on staying in and continuing my Golden Girls re-watch, I'm on season three right now, but I guess I can skip one night. The girls will still be there tomorrow."

Bonnie laughs, "Well we appreciate your sacrifice" She stepped closer and knocked on the bar, "besides I believe I owe you a shot."

Kai's eyebrows shot up, "Um, yeah you do! I don't bring out my good Butterscotch Schnapps for just anyone."

"Oh, you mean the one bottle that you had to go hunt for, that one?" Bonnie challenged. He tossed his pen at her, "Whatever, woman. You're gonna stick around for the shot this time?" Bonnie dodged the pen and rolled her eyes, but her smile was still soft as she nodded.

"Yeah?" He wanted to hear her say it.

"Yeah."

They stood smiling at each other like idiots over the bar before Nik cleared his throat. They both jumped, having forgot he was still standing there. "Bonnie, I think Caroline is about to strangle the party planner. Be a love, and help her to not."

Bonnie's head snapped around and sure enough, Caroline was clenching her fists, face a shade of red that could not be healthy. "Shit." Bonnie swore before hurrying over to try and diffuse the situation.

Kai busied himself with arranging and re-arranging things in order to avoid looking at his friend, he could feel the smirk on Nik's face.

"Shut up."

* * *

The night of the party came and Kai had skipped the dinner beforehand, preferring instead to go over last minute details for the bar.

And if he took a few extra cupcakes for himself, who's to know?

Nik had offered to hire outside bartenders for the event, so Kai and the rest could just relax and have fun, but Kai turned him down. He didn't like the fact that people he didn't know or trust would be behind his bar.

He also made sure to place the ingredients for Bonnie's long overdue shot nearby. No way was he going to let her give him the slip again.

Soon enough people began to trickle in, then came the birthday girl and her entourage. Caroline shone like a star. Obviously because it was her birthday, but also because of the silver tiara that sat atop her head. Kai chuckled to himself, of course she would have a tiara. He pulled out the Jell-O shots he had in the fridge, and started arranging them on a tray to be circulated around. He had just set the last one down when a flash of yellow caught his eye.

If he thought Caroline shone like a star, then Bonnie Bennett was the mother-fucking sun. She was wearing what looked like a mens blazer with nothing underneath. Luke threw an arm over his shoulder, breaking him out of his stupor, "You gonna stand there and stare like a perv, or actually serve those drinks?" His brother, as well as Liv and Lexi, were grinning like loons.

He shook off his brother's arm and got to work. The first tray was gone within five minutes. _'Damn alcoholics in this town.'_ Kai thought to himself. Truthfully he didn't mind so much, he knew almost everyone in there, and as such his tips were practically double what they usually were.

He was thinking about possibly doing private events more often when he spotted Bonnie being dragged into what he's now taken to calling her corner by Elena. When he stepped closer, he realized it wasn't Elena, but her twin Katherine.

"I'm so sorry Bon, I had no idea he'd follow me here! I just swung by the house to pick up Caro's gift and he was there." Katherine tossed her curls over her shoulder, "want me to kick him out?"

"No, I'm good." Bonnie protested, "I don't wanna cause a scene at Care's party. I'll just ignore him and I'm sure he'll leave me alone."

Kai snorted to himself, _'not looking like that he won't.'_

He must have been psychic, because while Kai watched from mostly behind the bar, Jeremy Gilbert attempted time and time again to speak to Bonnie. Only to end up being blocked by seemingly everyone in attendance. He would get no closer than within arm's reach before she was whisked off to another part of the room.

Eventually he got frustrated and gave up, instead choosing to down shot after shot with Vicki Donovan. Caroline had spotted him by that point and Kai saw Bonnie drag her into her corner and tell her the same thing she told Katherine. Caroline pouted, but was soon distracted by Nik.

All was going fine until Vicki climbed on the pool table and encouraged Jeremy to do body shots off her. He didn't know where Bonnie was, but she didn't need to see that. He hopped over the bar and started snaking his way through the crowd. They were done in here, he would personally escort them out.

Plus, they were fucking up his pool table.

He was waylaid by the birthday girl herself, "I know what you're thinking, but I have a better way to get rid of them, and send a message." She winked at him before waving to someone else in the crowd. She led him back to the bar where Lexi stood beside a bewildered Bonnie. This close he could tell she wore a skirt or shorts under the blazer, which showed off her toned legs.

Caroline all but tossed Kai at Bonnie (had she always been so damn strong?) "He wants to do body shots? Fine. We'll give him body shots."

Bonnie had caught on to her friends thinking and shook her head, "Care, no. Don't bring Malachai into this craziness." She placed a hand on his arm, "Ignore her, she's drunk."

"No I'm not!"

"I don't mind."

Caroline and Kai spoke at the same time, but he noticed Bonnie only focused on him. "Kai…"

He leaned over the bar, emerging with the bottle he'd stashed away earlier, "Besides, I believe I'm still owed a shot. What do you say, Bennett?"

Bonnie looked at the bottle for a bit before shrugging. "Let's do it." She stepped closer, "Make it Tequila instead." He cut his eyes in her direction and raised an eyebrow. She laughed, "If we're gonna do it, might as well do it right. Wait, where's Caroline?"

Her eyes widened as she saw Caroline up at the D.J table, "Hey everybody!" She got a very enthusiastic hey back from the crowd. "I know we're all here for my birthday, but I also want to point out that my best friend is back in town!" More cheers went up. "And the only thing I want from her is to see her have a good time tonight, and that includes body shots!" Caroline screamed the last two words out loud, no need for a microphone. "Our wonderful bartender, Kai has so graciously offered to help her out with that. So Kai, make it good."

Nik helped her down as the crowd started calling for Bonnie to do a body shot. "I'm going to kill her. I don't give a damn if it is her birthday."

Kai set the bottle down and signaled to Luke to bring him the shot, before focusing on Bonnie again, "You trust me?" She looked at him in suspicion before nodding yes. With no other warning, he lifted her up and sat her on the bar.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She hissed as the chanting in the crowd got louder.

"She said make it good. I'm not one to deny a girl on her birthday. Can I open this?" He fingered the buttons on her yellow blazer. She frowned before catching on to what he planned to do. "Yeah, go on." He kept his eyes on her as he took his time undoing the buttons. When he was done, he slid his hands inside to stroke her warm skin. With her blazer open he can see she has on a bra like top that left her whole stomach bare to his sight.

What he thought was a skirt was actually shorts, which worked even better. He applied a little pressure to her belly and slowly maneuvered her to lay flat on the bar. He shocked everyone when he hopped up as well, placing his knees on either side of her thighs as he accepted the ingredients from Luke. Handing the shot glass to Bonnie, he instructed her to hold the glass right at her sternum, while he tapped the lime wedge against her mouth. Groaning softly as she accepted and bit down to hold it there. He then paused to take a look at Bonnie splayed out beneath him.

Her hair fanned out around her head and for a second, he wanted to tell her how fucking beautiful she looked, gazing up at him in anticipation. He wanted to freeze time and take a picture so he could remember this moment forever.

He swooped down with no warning and took his first taste, licking from her belly button till he reached the shot glass. He wanted to do it again and again, but he decided not to press his luck. Without moving from his crouched position over her, he shook out a pinch of salt and planted his hands on her waist. He wasted no time in getting to work in licking it up, his tongue never leaving her skin until he reached the shot glass. He fastened his lips around the glass and threw his head back quickly, swallowing the strong liquor.

He rose up and sat back on his haunches, tossing the shot glass in Luke's direction, then skimmed his hands up over her body to circle her neck and lift her mouth to his. He took the lime from her mouth, making sure to brush his tongue against her lower lip. He felt rewarded when he heard her soft moan, and felt her hands come up to clutch his waist.

He reluctantly let go of her neck to remove the lime wedge and trailed his hands down to button up her blazer again. Dimly he heard Caroline comment, "Hi, I'm pregnant now."

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A BODY SHOT!" The D.J's loud voice brought him back to reality. When he had Bonnie all done up again, he slid off the bar and gently lifted her down. Her feet had just touched ground when Jeremy came charging through the crowd. "So, what? We break up and you start acting like a ho?"

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief, "What the fuck did you just call me? Call me out my name one more time, go on. I dare you." Whatever fog she had been under was now gone, she was laser focused on her ex-boyfriend.

"You heard me. You would rarely let me do body shots, now you're just giving it away." He towered over her small frame.

Bonnie tilted her head and smiled, it was a smile he'd never seen before on Bonnie. Kai heard someone, he thinks it may have been Mason, say 'Aw shit."

Before he knew what happened Bonnie had raised a leg and ran her heel all the way down Jeremy's shin. He let out a howl of pain and bent over, which was a mistake because it put his face right at punching level for Bonnie. She got in a few good shots before Mason swooped in and carried her away screaming.

"Now, this is a party." Katherine sat back and sipped her drink happily.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, Kai didn't get to see Bonnie before she left for Italy again.

Once word (and video) of what Lexi took to calling "The Body Shot Heard Round the World" spread, Kai found himself with a whole new clientele, along with requests to book his bar for private parties. On one hand, he was thrilled that he was drumming up so much new business (and seriously, this town like to drink), but on the other hand, he found that most of them just wanted to get what was now being called "The Bonnie Shot".

If he had a dollar for the amount of times he'd turned around and found some random chick sitting on his bar…..

Happily, unlike last time where he had to rely on snippets of conversations from his friends and siblings to know what was going on with Bonnie, this time he could reach her directly. Unbeknownst to him, Lexi had posted the video on Facebook, (he didn't even know his bar had a Facebook page). Bonnie had liked it and commented:

 _I can personally vouch for this place, best night of my life!_

Kai responded with a shot glass emoji and a bee saying: _I still owe you a Bit O' Honey._

Bonnie: _I'll be back to collect._

Kai: _You know where to find me._

Bonnie sent him a friend request after that.

He managed to wait all of five minutes before he accepted.

* * *

After that, it became very normal to see Kai on his phone. Caroline had taken to passing messages through Kai to Bonnie simply because she knew he'd be speaking to her before she would. Their conversations ranged from the mundane to heavy issues, like Bonnie's feelings of abandonment by her mother and father, Jeremy's betrayal, and how he was her first major relationship.

Kai opened up about his parents' deaths, and how they'd all ended up in Mystic Falls, or near in Jo's case. Bonnie marveled at the fact that he had so many siblings, she had a half-brother via her estranged mother, but they weren't close at all. Kai also revealed that although he had gone to law school, he'd never taken the bar. He'd graduated just before his parents' deaths, and something about being cooped up in a stuffy office didn't appeal to him anymore.

His father had owned a few bars and pubs around Portland and Kai had worked in them up until his last year of school. He'd stopped working in them so he could focus on his studies. After his parents died, he'd taken to working in them while he put off taking the bar. When Luke and Liv had revealed that instead of staying local, they wanted to go across the country for college, he'd sold all the businesses and moved with them while they attended Whitmore.

He had come upon his bar by chance, and had instantly known it would be a good investment. Seven years later, and he was proven correct. Gemini had a steady clientele, and thanks to recent events, he was thinking of expanding a little to include an actual dinner area.

When Bonnie had expressed shock that he could cook, the words tumbled out of his mouth before he realized it:

 _"Next time you're back home, I'll cook for you."_

 _"Seriously? Do you have a specialty?"_

 _Kai paused when he realized he was most comfortable with Italian food. The very same food she'd been having for the past two and a half years, "Um. Italian, but I also make a mean Arroz Con Pollo."_

 _Bonnie had started laughing when he said Italian, but cheered when he changed his mind. "That sounds amazing, I can't wait."_

* * *

Kai was mindlessly following along with Luke while grocery shopping when he felt the weight of someone's stare. He turned to see an older woman at the end of the aisle, eyes firmly fixed on him. He raised his eyebrows, "Yes?"

The woman sauntered down the aisle, keeping a hold of the basket in her arms. She stopped next to him and gave him an obvious once-over. "I just wanted to meet the young man that has my Bonnie so captivated that she barely finds the time to call her poor grandmother."

Oh shit, this was Bonnie's Grams. He felt his heart kick up in nervousness. While he was trying to come up with something to say, Luke walked up and kissed her on her cheek. "Hello Ms. Sheila. You look wonderful today." He shot a smug grin at Kai.

The little suck-up.

"Boy, ain't nobody falling for your sweet talk today. I'm trying to talk to your brother." She swatted him away.

"Hello, Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kai held out his hand and was surprised when she took his hand and pulled him in for a hug. "None of that formal mess, you've done a shot off my grandbaby, I think that calls for a hug." Kai felt his face heat up and Luke barely contained his laughter.

"I'm sorry?" Kai wasn't sure if he should apologize, but he did, just to be on the safe side.

"Are you?" She raised an eyebrow.

 _'Hell no, and I want to do it, and so much more.'_ The thought ran through his head unbidden.

"I wanted to meet you because I'm planning a welcome home party for Bonnie. I assume you'll want to be invited?" Kai nodded eagerly. "Great, I'll be sure to swing by your bar later to discuss this in more detail. You boys have a nice day." As she walked off, Kai heard his phone chime. Without even turning around Sheila called back, "Tell Bonnie I say hello."

He waited until she was safely around the corner before he looked at his phone, sure enough, it was from Bonnie. Ignoring what she had written, he quickly sent a text of his own.

 _-Um, your Grams just ambushed me in the cereal aisle._

- _Um, who do you think told her where you'd be?_

Kai stared at his phone in shock, then a giddy smile crossed his face. She had wanted him to meet her grandmother! Kai finished the rest of the grocery trip on cloud nine.

* * *

The first inkling that something was wrong was when he hadn't heard from Bonnie in a while. He'd had a party that night and as usual left his phone in his locker. She would normally leave him little jokes and comments throughout the night because she knew he saved them to read later after he got home.

However tonight, there were only two messages, then nothing more. He laid awake in bed wondering if she was just busy, or if she had finally gotten tired of their quasi-flirtation through social media. He shot her a quick text just to say the night went well. He fell asleep waiting for her to respond.

He woke to a missed call and text from Jo of all people.

 _-Hey, we're all good, but call me when you wake up._

Kai breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Jo made sure to start off with everyone is okay. Ever since the phone call about their parents, each sibling is extra careful when announcing any kind of news. While his coffee is brewing, he calls his twin back.

 _"Hey, you up?"_

"Yeah, what's going on?"

He can tell from the background noise that she's at the hospital, _"I don't know if I should be telling you this but, Bonnie's grandmother had a mild heart attack. Bonnie just got here, looks like she took the first flight out."_

No wonder she had stopped messaging him. "How is Sheila? Is she…?" He trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud. He'd spent some time with her after their run in at the grocery store, and Kai genuinely liked the older woman.

 _"No, she's going to be fine. There's a minor loss of motor functions, but with aggressive physical therapy, she'll be up and about in no time."_ Jo assured him.

"Thanks, sissy."

 _"She's really pretty, Kai. Wonder if I can convince her to switch sides."_ Jo teased before she hung up.

"Evil woman." Kai knew (hoped) his sister was just teasing. He ultimately decided to wait until Bonnie told him the news before showing up at the hospital. After all, if he didn't have a sister that worked there, he wouldn't have even known about Sheila's condition.

He took a shower and was contemplating calling Mason to see if he wanted to hang when his phone rang. It was Bonnie calling to tell him she was back in town because of her grandmother. He let her vent for a while about not being able to reach her mother or father to let them know about her grandmothers' condition. He let her go on before she abruptly broke off, saying her mom had just walked in and she had to go.

He gets a text from her much later

 _-BTW, I think I met your sister. Dark hair, pretty blue eyes?_

Damn Jo. He texted back:

 _-Ignore her, my eyes are much prettier_

 _-I don't know…._

Kai felt a little better. If Bonnie could joke at a time like this, then Sheila must truly be okay.

* * *

The next few months he saw Bonnie quite regularly. She had arranged to take a leave of absence in order to care for her grandmother. Since Sheila had also worked at Whitmore as a professor, the school was more than generous with letting Bonnie have the time off.

So Bonnie tended to hang around the bar when she had the free time, pretty much everyone in her group of friends tended to congregate there anyway. She had even been behind the bar a few times lending a hand if it got too crowded. As a lifelong resident of Mystic Falls, she'd filled him in on the juicy town gossip.

He'd even gotten to meet her cousin Lucy, completely by chance. Kai had gotten in the habit of dropping by to see if they needed anything. On this occasion, when he knocked, neither Sheila nor Bonnie opened the door. Instead he was greeted by a tall, dark haired bombshell, who's smile upon seeing him was very knowing.

"Hello." She purrs. "You must be Kai, I've heard a lot about you."

"Nothing but good things, I hope." He tried to joke. Was every woman in this damn family beautiful? Even though Sheila was still a looker now, he's seen pictures from when she was younger and she was a knockout, and Bonnie's mother Abigail was much the same. Hands down, the Bennett women won gold in the Genetic Olympics. He knew a little about Lucy from Mason, turns out they'd dated off and on during their high school years, and liked to hook up whenever they happened to be in the same place at the same time.

"I have to say, you are a big improvement over little Gilbert." Lucy continued, smile growing even wider at his obvious discomfort. He was saved by Sheila coming in from the garden and shooing Lucy away. She passed that Bonnie was off running errands and that she'd see him later.

* * *

'Later' turned out to be nearly a whole week.

They'd still texted, but it was five days later before he laid eyes on her again. She had slipped in after last call, and stayed to help him clean up.

"Hey stranger, where you been?" He wiped off a table.

Bonnie groans as she leans over to pick up a few fallen darts, "I forgot how much of a pain it is when you move into a new place."

Kai stops wiping, "You moved into a new place?"

"Yeah, I can't stay at my grams' forever. I love her and all, but I miss having my own space." She looked down, "Plus my dad told me that he'd had the house on the market for a while and it finally sold, so I was gonna have to get my stuff out of there anyways." She shrugs, "This just speeds up the process, right?"

She's using her 'please don't make this a big deal voice' and even though Kai knows it stings, he's willing to let it go for now. He moves on to the next table, "So when's the housewarming?"

* * *

A week later and she's helping him clean up after close again.

"I've never gotten the hang of darts." Bonnie laments. He turns to see her attempting to get a dart anywhere on the board. He sets down the box of empty bottles to go join her in the back of the bar where the pool tables and dart boards are located. He watches her attempt again and again before stepping in to coach.

He retrieves the fallen darts before coming to stand right behind her. He reaches out to bring her to stand almost flush with his body, her back to his front. With a start he realizes he was correct all that time ago, when he first remembers seeing her, she comes right up to his chin. He angles her so she's not facing the dartboard head-on. He keeps one hand loosely gripping her hip, while the other skims down her shoulder to her hand where he places a dart in her palm. He brings her hand up to aim at the board.

"Try not to look at the dart itself." He's leaning down to say in her ear, "Look at the board on the wall." He feels her shudder, and fights to hide his smile. It's always good to know she's as affected by him as he is by her. "Visualize where you want it to land."

"I want it to land on the damn board." Bonnie grumbles. He laughs, the hand on her hip tightening for a moment. He adjusts her grip on the dart before trailing his hand down the back of her fingers to wrap around her wrist. "I've always found what works for me is not launching the dart, but kind of toss it with a flick of your wrist at the end." He lets go of her wrist and steps back. "Whenever you're ready."

She steadies herself, no longer reliant on his body behind hers, takes a deep breath and lets the dart go. It doesn't hit the bullseye, but it makes it on the board. Bonnie turns to him with wide eyes and jumps for joy. "YES! Let's try it again."

They run through it a few more times, each time Bonnie getting closer and closer to the middle, until she finally hits it. She jumps into his arms, and he spins her around, both of them laughing uncontrollably. He's had a few over the course of the night, so after a few spins, he starts to feel dizzy. He sets her down on the pool table closest to them and doesn't think before he leans in.

She meets him halfway, her need for him as urgent as his for her. Both of them had been wanting this for so long that there is no time for finesse, or going slow. She's got her tongue in his mouth, while her hands are wrapped around his neck, her fingers tugging at the ends of his hair. His hands are in constant motion, one minute cradling her face, the next running all over whatever parts of her body he can reach.

Kai pulls back to trail kisses down her throat and lick across her collarbone, leaving little bite marks. He wants to mark her as his, so even when she's not near him, everyone will know exactly who she belongs to. The tank top she wore tonight makes it so much easier for him to pull down a strap and fasten his mouth around a brown nipple. That got an instant reaction from her, causing her to arch up into his mouth, as her grip on his hair tightened even more. "Kai, please."

He release her nipple with a pop, "Please what?" He teased. He loved seeing her like this. Hungry, needy, and aching for him. She huffed before pushing against him, briefly separating herself from him. She leaned back to fully recline on the pool table lifting her top as she went, tossing it over her shoulder.

Kai took a moment to just look as she lay sprawled out on the pool table like a damn feast. She'd removed her bra as well as her top so all he saw was golden skin as far as his eyes could see. He placed his hands on her thighs and pulled her so she was sitting on the very edge of the table, causing the skirt she was wearing to slide up around her waist. His hands went to work removing her underwear, lifting her legs so he could slide them up and off. He kneeled down, threw her legs over his shoulders and got to work.

The first lick had Bonnie crying out loud, the second had her reaching a hand down to grip the back of his head, as if to make sure he stayed right where he was. He flicked his tongue up to circle and tease at her clit before dragging it down to thrust inside her. Bonnie is moaning and chanting his name above him and if he had to die early, he'd be happy with it happening now.

She releases his head and he looks up to see her gripping her breasts, pinching at her nipples. He files that away for future notice before returning to the task at hand. He dips his tongue inside a few more times before switching to his fingers. He groans as her body grips his fingers tight, he was going to explode upon contact if he ever got the pleasure of sleeping with her.

While his fingers were plunging in and out, he busied his tongue with her clit again, alternating gentle licks with firm sucks, it wasn't long before he felt her legs start to tremble.

"Kai, shit. I'm gonna cum." That was music to his ears. He replaced his fingers with his tongue, gripped each thigh tight and ate her until she came moaning on his tongue. He lapped up every drop he could get his mouth on, gently easing her down from her high. He kissed his way up her body, stopping at her breasts to pepper each one with kisses, before he licked up her throat, finally sealing his mouth around hers.

Their tongues twine together and Bonnie reaches out to keep him close to her. His hands are unable to stop moving, tangling in her hair, stroking her breasts, as much skin as he can get his hands on, he wants to touch.

She breaks the kiss, pulling in lungfuls of air, "What about you?" She reaches a hand down to where he has been grinding against her, but closes a hand around hers and pulls her away. "If you touch me, I'm gonna lose it." She leans her head against his smiling impishly, "Okay, then I won't touch you." Somehow she manages to maneuver him so he's fully spread out on the pool table, and she's straddling him.

She places her hands on his chest then starts a slow grind against him. His hands fly up to grip her waist, "Fuck, Bonnie." She simply smiles and continues to circle her hips to a beat that only she can hear. Kai groans and wishes he thought to at least take his jeans off, especially when Bonnie starts to breathe harder and move with more urgency. He reaches up to massage her breasts, rolling her nipples between his thumb and forefinger while she has one hand on his chest for balance, while the other is frantically rubbing between her legs. He hadn't seen her face when she came before, but watching her fall over the edge now was the thing that set him off.

He catches her as she falls onto his chest, and for a while, the only sound is them trying to get their breath back. Bonnie is tucked under his chin and he's running a hand up and down her spine, "I've wanted to do that since the first day I saw you." He admits.

Bonnie places a kiss on his neck, "Really? I mean, I was a wreck that day."

"You were beautiful." He insists.

"Okay."

They eventually manage to get off the pool table. Kai tells her to never mind about the rest of the clean-up, that Luke owed him anyway. He takes her upstairs to his place, _'wait, you own the building? How am I just now learning this?'_

He quiets Bonnie with his tongue down her throat and his hand up her skirt.

He also finally gets to give her the shot that she skipped out on so long ago, the Bit O' Honey.


End file.
